Donja R. Love

Donja R. Love grew up in Philadelphia, PA, where he eventually graduated from high school. He then attended Temple University majoring in African American Studies and Theater until leaving before completing his degree.[1] In 2008, Love went to the doctor with a cough and came out diagnosed with HIV. Grappling with his condition, Love recalls turning to sex and drinking for comfort after this. He attributes his recovery from these two things to the Christian church and playwriting. He credits some of his motivation and inspiration from his mother who lives in Philadelphia and taught him that life would be difficult because of his identity. Love began writing, producing, and directing his own plays in the Philadelphia area.[2]

Once Donja R. Love was established in Pennsylvania, he moved to New York City to continue his career as a playwright. While in New York, he completed multiple playwriting fellowships to further his craft until being accepted to Juilliard for playwriting for 2018–2019.[2]

Donja R. Love began playwriting in the late 2000s. Love's most well-known piece, one in two was written around the ten-year anniversary of his HIV diagnosis. He recounts writing this play in the notes app on his phone from his bed. He wrote it as a way to therapeutically process his emotions and it was not initially meant to be produced. However, now it is his most known piece of work that has been produced Off-Broadway.[3]

In the past few years, Donja R. Love has begun working in film and television. His most notable works include Modern Day Black Gay, a web series, and Once a Star, a short film. [4]

In 2020, Love began a writing workshop specifically for writers with HIV named Write It Out! This project is partially inspired by Love's own experience having turned to writing as his career after his diagnosis. One in two established Love as a leader in the HIV positive realm of theatre, especially for narratives involving queer people of color. The writing-intensive is being put on by the National Queer Theater. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is in collaboration with this project.[5]

Love is particularly interested in sharing the stories of marginalized people. Being a black, queer, HIV positive playwright, he often writes from his own experience in order to pursue this goal. Starting out as a performer, writing was not Love's original position in the theatre. By becoming a writer, Love has been able to share more specific narratives of people who are HIV positive in a way that theatre has not seen before. He cites his inspiration from writers such as Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, two highly influential Black writers.[2]

He writes plays that tell the stories of Black Queer Folx for the audiences made of Black Queer Folx.[6] His work focuses on normalizing these marginalized identities and bringing joy as well as depth to the typical monolithic portrayal of LGBTQ+ people of color. Through his productions, he emphasizes collaboration with directors and actors of color who help highlight these stories.[3]

Following is a list of plays by Donja R. Love[6]

• Sugar in Our Wounds[7]
• Fireflies[8]
• In the Middle
• One in Two
• The Trade
• Soft
• The North Star
• A Ugandan Family
• The Review